saofanonfandomcom-20200214-history
Tallyn Edition: Chapter 1
Summary In need of information to further his goal, Tallyn undertakes a high risk mission for the sake of one of the few people in the game who could give him what he needs. In <>, living and surviving are two different ways of life. Info Broken Aincrad 16th Floor, March 26th, 2023, 19:57 When you ask someone; "what is a mercenary?", the answer is one of two that will inevitably be the same no matter who you hear it from. A person who is hired as a soldier or personal sword in exchange for wealth or material gains. Or a person who is solely motivated by the desire for gains that they sell themselves out to who ever pays the most. I'm not denying that neither of these are true. They both are true definitions. The word itself is English, originating from the Latin word, mercēs, meaning a wage or price. The best translation of the word in Japanese is "yōhei" (傭兵) meaning "hired soldier", but that isn't exactly the same now is it. A soldier is a professional fighter, whereas a mercenary is anyone good at what they do and are willing to share it for the right payment. But the payment doesn't need to be <>. My payment was nothing so trivial or meaningless as pieces of data that looked like coins. I didn't need the 1's and 0's in binary that made up the currency of this world. I needed information, and the few people that had any and knew how to get any were like rhodium; so rare and more precious than platinum, but too often or not largely ignored. Unlike rhodium however, the "info brokers" did this deliberately by charging players too high for information that was utterly useless compared to the <> they coughed up for it. The 16th floor is fairly average when you look at the entirety of <>; a grassland floor, mixed with forest patched areas that made good monster grinding spots with high enough levels to gain quick XP. The town on that floor escapes me, despite passing it a few times, it was one of those places I would rather forget, much like the rest of this damn world sometimes. Unlike Starting City on the 1st floor, which remains unforgettable, the 16th floor settlement doesn't exist in my memory. Only the fields and woods that surround it. On the far east side of the floor, just before you reach the edges of the floor that lead outside to the balcony that overlooks the endless sky above, across, . . . and below, there was a meeting place arranged between an info broker, and with a group of players that made their base around this area, The Leaches. An group, or more specifically a guild that commits a crime as deemed by the system become what the players identified as an "orange guild". While they were not murders, the crimes they commit were comparable to killing a player without having the edge to do it themselves. PKing wasn't the Leaches style, but they would take all that a player had and leave them to fend for themselves in a killing zone with high enough monsters to do the job if the players didn't escape in time. This time, my attention was for them. I'm not the hero who rushes in to see justice done on these criminals. I'm not the lawman doing his job because it's right. Frankly, only the stupid would allow themselves to fall for such an obvious ploy, some even asking for a death note. The smart players were those that stayed on the first floor away from danger, or stayed in the towns on the higher floors, or took part in guilds of five-six people and stayed in view of safe zones. If you weren't one of these people, you were gonna die one of these days, sooner than playing it safe. My client was one of the people who usually played safe, but lived too dangerously, and this time she was leading herself on into an obvious trap. So obvious in fact she knew that she would need someone like me watching her back in case it was how she predicted it. But being an info broker, you knew that a meeting outside of the safe zone was asking for trouble to pay a visit. My contract was protection; my client was Argo, the Rat. A former Beta tester, . . . just like me. Aincrad 10th Floor, March 22nd, 2023, 13:21 I heard you do physical work for the right price? I had received a message through one of Argo's contacts to meet her at the <> to the south east of the town. The message wasn't what you would call a welcoming or inviting use of words. Very blunt, but it got to the point without trying to butter me up. At least someone did their homework before trying to talk me up. It wasn't even sent by traditional means, which by traditional means a message you type out a send with a flick of your wrist. A piece of paper, received through five at most other people before I 'happened' to stumble on it. While I prefer clients to remain straight and open when they need me, this one was interesting and I thought that this would be fun with all the secrecy that it requested of this. I was already based on the 10th Floor, but I was considering moving up to the 20th, since the clearers were fast ascending past the 25th Floor, but slowed after the massacre that occurred with the <>. I saw half the guild being wiped out by the Two-headed Giant. That's right, I was there. I'll tell you more later, but I was basically hired to map out the Labyrinth, since players were dropping like flies venturing in before they even found the boss. Then I got dragged in to fight with everyone else. But enough of that, back to my job. Argo had been very précised in how she wanted to meet. Knowing what kind of person she was, it wasn't a surprise with all the secrecy; a lot of players were out of <> for very meaningless information thanks to her. Her big money was on gossips more than anything, and that made a lot of enemies when you're the one she's taking info from. I turned towards the alley between the in and one of the NPC owned shops. I reached the corner and leaned up against it, crossing my arms and sighing. As per the message, I tapped the ground three time with my heel and waited for my client to make herself appear. "I heard you do physical work for the right price?" I stayed facing away, like she said, making a pretense that I hadn't heard her speak, but I knew she was there now. Her back slumped against the other side of the corner, facing the back of another shop, with one of her legs now bent up and pressing against the wood. "You're the info broker here, Argo" I replied, keeping a modest tone, like I wasn't interested. It was all part of the act, because God forbid she caught something out of character from me and she'll make something off of that alone. "If your sources are wrong, that would be bad for your business." She huffed and crossed her arms, but neither of us made eye contact. "Do you think you're funny, talking the way you do?" she asked. I could hear her gritting her teeth now, so something was very serious, but why should I waste an opportunity like this? "That depends; Am I in a good mood?" I pondered on this for a while, to let myself think in peace. Knowing what she was like, the kind of company she was afraid of was not a wide enough range. ". . . hmm, yes, I do believe I am." She groaned for a short bit, before shooting back. "Right, back to business. I need to hire you." Well duh was my thought, no one calls a mercenary around for a chat, especially when the client is paying for it. "What does the job involve?" I asked, keeping a silent interest in the subject. "Do you need a reason?" I tapped my thumb against my index and middle fingers three times in a very loud manner. She knew what I meant. "I need a price tag." "You mercenaries are always the same." I couldn't tell if she was deliberately making a joke of the subject or not, so I thought I should at least answer in response. I exhaled loudly and replied like I lost interest. "I would say the same about info brokers, but you are in completely different league of your own." "Don't get snarky" she snapped, my bad for the interpretation. This was not something that she wouldn't be needing me for. "I could get another player who's willing to do the job for half of what I expect you charge." Pfft. I snickered a little. That was a bluff, a too obvious bluff, that I probably deserved nevertheless. "And yet you came to me and not them." I kicked myself off the corner and walked around to lean against the wall that opposed her. I saw he head drop underneath her hood, trying to hide her face for obvious reasons. "Let's cut the crap and just get down to business; what's the job?" She took a long breath through her nose, throwing her head up high with her eyes closed. "Protection." I raised an eyebrow. "Bodyguard?" "No, more like . . . a Watchman." I couldn't help by raise one side of my mouth. Of course, that's why she needed me. All my skills, say one, were focused on this kind of operation. "Out of sight, but always there. You were right to come to me first." I began to crack a few of my fingers, feeling at much more lax than I had been a while ago. I would say a little smug, but that wasn't the case, I needed my game head on. "Looks like your sources were very well selected. Was it Fangrir? Marigold? Maybe, Cleave?" She looked at me directly this time. Her whiskers screwed as her eyes squinted in my direction. "Excuse me?" The way she answered threw my off a little. Either she was a convincing liar, or I had the wrong info broker, but I did need to continue with this. "My searching skill is high, and they were not the background type of people. I presume that one at least was keeping tabs on me on your behalf, am I wrong?" She was smiling now, I was wrong. "You are wrong." Damn, well that explains it. At least I know I have more searching to do after this to find who has been keeping tabs on me on her behalf. "Well, that's why you're the best at what you do. Your sources were in that crowd, and I probably never noticed. Which is why you're the best person to receive the payment I want." She straightened herself up and unfolded her arms. Business was in session. "Look, I will set the price here, and I won't have you go overcharging me just for the sake of your own personal terms." "I don't want Cor." That really threw her off. <> was everything to everyone, without it, there was no food, shelter, equipment, nothing. "Don't start making jokes here. What else-, oh, I see how it is." She was smiling again, she knew exactly what I meant. I smiled back, at least now we could stop with the formalities and just talk. "Information." "What else would it be. What in particular?" I wasn't going to give her anything about what I wanted till I knew the job inside out. I raised my hand and shook my head. "Who am I protecting you from?" "What concern is that?" "Just want to know who you've managed to piss off enough that you need me to watch your back undetected." She slumped back, obviously I hit a sore subject, or did I? Maybe I was just annoying her too much, I'm gonna go with the latter. "Have you heard of a guild called, "The Leaches"?" Who hadn't; aoart from being among the first orange cursor players in the game, they were constantly robbing low leveled players that strayed too far from the safe zones. "Orange guild, no PKing, but they take most of your health, all your items and equipment and leave you for dead to let the mobs finish you if they're lucky. What did you do?" "Nothing yet, but they want information and are willing to pay big for it, apparently." "Outside the safe zone? In the forest? You still think that there's a chance this is genuine?" No that wasn't right. Argo may be motivated by a full purse, though in some cases, I would appear hypocritical, but she wasn't stupid enough for a ploy like this. She was after a big prize for this. I knew it. "Or is there something more to this job than you're telling me?" She was quick to answer. I had to admire the strength in her ability to respond like that. "I'm going in, and I don't expect them to pay up. That's what you're for." As if I thought. She would have hired a guild with experienced fighters for less than she probably thought of for hiring me instead. "Associating with a group of orange players isn't smart. But that's not the reason." If <> was the motivation, what would be the best way to obtain it that linked up to an orange guild? Of course. "How much is being offered for their apprehension?" "I don't know what you're talking about." Pfft. Yes she did. I could see right through it. "The bounty. I know it exists. You hire me for less than half, I do all the work, they go to jail, and you get all the profits. That was the plan is it not?" My revelation almost backfired on me. Argo was stunned enough that I knew what she had been planning this entire time that she almost walked out from the deal. "We're done here." That was all she said before she started walking. That would have been the end of it, I would have dug too deep, if that was really what she wanted the outcome to end this way. I called out her second bluff. She didn't want to share, but <> wasn't my payment. "I told you already, I don't want Cor. I expect information when the jobs done though." She darted back around and pretending to ponder on it for a while. She then extended out her right hand, offering to shake on the deal. I accepted and parted soon after. "Done." I flicked my right hand and opened up the map of Aincrad. There were green bars running across to about a quarter of the way, excluding the obscenely large bottom bar that represented the 1st Floor. The floors marked in grey were nonexistent at the moment, since no one had reached that high yet and there was no mapping details of them as of yet. I slid the map over to her view. "When do we start?" Argo reached out and pointed to the western gate of the 16th Floor, then a cursor, like a ripple of gold circles formed and continued to flicker on the screen. "Four days. Meet me on the 16th floor at 1900 hours." I pulled the map back over to my view and closed the menu. She snapped her fingers and pointed at me with fierce determination. "I want you prepared, because I'm teleporting out if this is going to go wrong." I smiled and slid her finger aside away from my face, before turning and walking away. "I'll have my equipment ready. Make sure you don't get killed before then." She didn't have time to answer me, she'd already started leaving when I replied earlier. The job was now in motion. Guilds with high notoriety were often the talk of people, and four days was plenty of time to get my own info. I didn't need to know who was in the guild and how many they were. Players who had been robbed and nearly killed by them had the most insight in how they laid out their plans; Hiding spots, ambushes, choke zones (areas with little escape), weapons they used, poisons, tactics. A few hundred <> and a hot meal was enough to get a lot of what I needed to know from those players. I traded in a rare drop I had no use for, and what I got was enough <> to supply myself with the extra equipment I would need. The cats had set the trap, the rat was willingly walking into it, while bird picked at the claws. Green cursor or Orange, I knew how to handle these players. I was ready for them. Aincrad 16th Floor, March 26th, 2023, 20:04 An hour ago, we had met up and set up the plan of engagement. There was undoubtedly going to be more players hiding in the woods to ambush any players that may attempt to follow her as she enters their base. Any scout for a hired army would get caught and the army would be deliberately split up and destroyed in the trees. But I was not an army, and I could see were they were hiding. We agreed to stay within distance, but partying up might arouse suspicion, especially if something would happen that may require her to play on with the group. I walked with her, but remained out of sight. My searching skill doubled like a form of night vision. I could see the orange players lurking in the woods, like a group of generating mobs waiting to be killed. We had our secret weapon though. Something that we earned, but not a game item or a skill we could learn. The weapon I am speaking of, was performance. Acting was what would win us the fight over any form of blade. All it took was the right words and this whole scheme of theirs would fall apart. Argo walked along the path, till she was intercepted by two players, both with orange cursors. It was too dark to name anything unique about their features, but I could see that both were roughly the same height, taller than Argo, and both were dark haired and draped in red tattered cloaks flapping over one shoulder and catching itself on its furthest corner under a belt. The one to her right grabbed her shoulder. "Add us, Rat." His voice was coarse like a smoker, which may be the reason he sounded the way he did. If she wasn't scared, hiding it under that expression she was holding was doing the right trick before their eyes. "To what?" she asked, pretending to be clueless to underestimate their opinions of her. The left one copied his formers action, but spoke with a sweeter tone. "To your party." Good call Argo I complemented in my head. She was right about no parties. this would have blow my cover for sure. The right one copied the left's tone, trying to scare the spooks out of her. Intimidate her. "For your protection, of course." I saw Argo swipe in front with her right hand. that was enough for me to see, I had a job to do. I could see five people in the forest so far. Three were on the road, so the other two were mine to pick off. Speaking of picks, I had a new toy I wanted to use. They're small throwing picks, which is basically the only weapon that is ranged in this game. It wasn't much, and the damage you could do with these was minimal at best since I newly unlocked them. For the past four days, I found a new technique I could use for them. While I worked on taking out the orange cursors hiding in the shadows. I could hear another voice in the woods. It wasn't Argo's or the two that had begun 'escorting' her, so she must have ran into the leader of sorts. "Ah, Argo. Somewhere inside my shallow digitally recreated heart, I feared you wouldn't come. But alas, you are here. Should I applaud your bravery? No." One "Well don't be so quiet, I want what information you have to offer, and I can promise you, I have something worth the whole lot." Two, there are more ahead now in my view. "What do you want? I have a lot of sources, but I need specifics." Three One of the guards on her shoulders smiled at this, and the other tried to stop himself from laughing "Oh, she's a feisty-" he was cut off. Four. I pulled out my teleport crystal. Not for me mind you. But this would start attracting some attention. The blue light glared through the trees, but apparently it was largely ignored. "Forgive my rudeness" the leader continued, "but I believe that you are aware of what I want. I don't want information on this game, I have no need of it and neither should anyone." Five "Let the beta testers finish this game. It's the only thing they were every good for. What I want is player information." Argo huffed. "You realize that the price for gossip is still a high price. Which person in particular are you thinking of?" "All of them." Six, Seven, Double tap. She responded in shock. Admittedly, as did I. "What?" The leaders shadow grew as he stepped closer to the fire, with his hands in the air. "I want to know about all the players, save for the clearers, they're useless and I have no intension of picking a bone with any of those selfish knuckleheads. I want to know who they are, what levels they are, where they live, and where they leave the safe zones each day." I snapped back into work. Eight. "Even if I had all that about over 7,000 players, do you really think you have enough Cor to pay for all that info?" There's another here I can feel him, but where. He now let out a closed mouth laugh. the freakish nature of the humour was sickening and chill sending. My spine was close to rattling how calm and collect he sounded. "Oh, Argo, you really should have pricked up your ears when I was talking to you. I said I have something worth all the information you have." "A rare item?" Not an item. "One of a kind, in fact." Of course it is. "Can I see it?" He laughed close mouthed again, but it was more conclusive and he made certain to stop himself, like the laugh was a planned mechanism he was in full control of. "My dear, you are standing where it is." Argo stepped back, but there was no need to be afraid anymore, I finished my end of the deal. "I guess you realize what I want now. All the intel you have and anything of any value on your person, for your life. I think that's a fair trade for a rat." "What if I don't agree with the deal" she insisted on protesting. "Like I know for a fact that you have never PK'd anyone in this entire game, save for the few monster PK's your guilds responsible for." He then held his hand, with two fingers, his index and middle extended to the sky. His aides moved forward wit smirks on their faces, both drawing their swords. Both were short swords, but the orange cursor aide was wielding his in two ands instead of one. The leader ran his fingers through is hair. "Well if you don't like the deal, then I guess we'll have to deal with you." Argo stepped back, but the grip of the two on her shoulders were too much for her to escape from. "You think five people scare me?" she insisted, trying to reach for her sword at her side. "I-I'm a beta tester remember. I have climbed up my levels enough to take you on. Chances might be slim, but so will your numbers." The leader laughed again, but this time he never held back on his laugh. no mouth was silencing it, and the woods could hear it and echo through the layers of bark. "You would think so? But there are more than just us five here. You may have already deduced that there were more of us here. And you would be right." That was my cue. Nine. I knocked the last guy and sent them on their way via teleporting and walked onto the path. "They'll be here shortly." I started walking down the path. I walked like I had nothing better to do. As I turned the corner, the light of the flames now showed their faces. All had the same evil eyes I expected to see, small and squared, like a crocodile that waited and watched till it was ready to snap. "A meeting during the day would have made finding this place a lot trickier. Maybe you should have put out a few lights." Argo dropped her guard and shook the players off her shoulders, before stepping back. "Took you long enough" she complained. I rolled my eyes, holding on to the monotone voice I was playing on. "Sorry. I didn't know I needed an invite to join this party." There were five guys standing there besides Argo. two were already mentioned. and the other three were new. I could see them very badly, but one on the right was orange cursored, while the other two were green. The one on the left also appeared female, but I would have to check that up later. (Don't take that the wrong way!) "Who are you?" I looked over at him, the leader. He stepped forward, and now the fire was making him more clear; Red spiked hair, more a pink actually, I'll say strawberry blonde was an accurate colour, but not natural. Maybe a dye. Square sharp eyes and tight features. Bony, but he was clothed in red with gold trims around the edges, like a king. Green cursor though, so someone here liked to keep his hands clean. I kept an expression of un-impressiveness. I looked at Argo then back at him, with me hand pointing towards her. "Hasn't she told you yet?" I then smiled, the shock factor was priceless. Argo then followed suit. Now her smug attitude was returning. She directed her insult towards the leader of 'The Leach'. "Oh, honestly, you really thought I was this stupid to walk in like this. I know who you are and what you want." I crossed my arms and looked like I was going to lean with a bored expression on my face. "I'm here because she paid me to be here." I nudged my neck to indicate Argo, but they probably already soused that out. This didn't shake the leader's command, and he rubbed off my attempts like it was nothing. Like we planned. "Well you must be very stupid to have just walked right in here. At least Argo here has something I want. From the looks of you, there might be something of value, but not a lot." I uncrossed my arms and hung them behind my head. "That is no concern of mine what you think of me." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a <>, more expensive, because this could teleport any number of people at once. "I am here to complete a job, so if you would just tie yourself up and teleport to <>, then I can finish for today." The leader smirked and laughed it off, but I couldn't help smiling now after wa she just said to me. His empty threat. "You seem to forget that I have others in these woods, and they will be along soon enough." I sighed and stood straight up. "I wouldn't count on it. Unless they're not the nine people I just walked into about a few minutes ago, then you'll be disappointed." "What?" I started stretching out my arms, like I was warming up, before moving down to stretch out my legs. "Look, I have had a long day, so here's what I'll do; you three with the orange cursors are going down regardless, but you two with the green can take a few free shots at me. Then, I'll take you all down." They all laughed at me. The snickering and mockery that was being thrown my way was minimal, but it was now a song the wind would carry for eternity for the wrong reasons. "Hmm, as if. You stats are obviously focused on stealth, a fight with us won't even be worth the challenge. Kill him." The guards started, but then they stopped, hesitating at the thought of hitting me. "You said nothing abou-" The leader was now close to snapping, his smile had finally needed remarry. "Do what you like with him. Bleed him, maim him, show no mercy." They finally had the balls to fight, but a defy with then is like squashing a bug beneath your boot. They walked towards me, but I all I needed were two throwing picks which enough juice to kill the pain for another week. I ended it quickly with two items in my coat. "Ehh." *Thud" the guy on the right collapsed "Ahhh. What happened!" "Thud* the left guy was now following his comrade. The smile that once occupied the leaders face was no on permanent trip. He growled as his two men were dropped like flies before him. "Grr. You." It's amazing what <> and a good blade like mine. You see, in this game there are quests that unlock items. On the 1st floor, you can get a pot of cream, or butter, it's technically butter, but the item says cream, don't worry about that. On the 4th floor, you break a rock to release what the game labels cola, or a cola substitute, it's mostly grape juice and not very good, I don't recommend it. Now for the 19th floor, there's a cave with a basilisk in it that drops five pots of its venom. This particular poison causes paralysis when it hits you, , even if its just your skin. It'll hurt like hell, but you can't really complain. It won't kill you either, but I ended up using about five picks per pot, and I had ten picks on my person (double tap from earlier, remember that). Now I used the last two and here we are. I cracked my neck this time."That was almost too easy. I thought I would actually have to draw my weapon for this one." "What on earth are you?" Well the bodies of paralysed players isn't a good enough answer, I'll show you. I couldn't be asked to answer, they were nothing but criminals and they were getting what they deserved. they could ponder the question in prison. I pulled out a teleport crystal between the two of them, dragging their limp bodies closer to it. I tapped my hand and yelled out "<> before stepping back and letting the two flash into blue, and they were gone. I pulled out another from my pocket and started flicking it in the air. "I only have one crystal left and three players to send." I stopped catching it and let it fall, just to prove a point. "I could always shrink that number." I aimed this question at Argo, since this was her cash reward I was talking about. She smiled and just slumped next to a tree with her arms crossed and eyes closed. She knew she made the right choice hiring me. "I'm not complaing. I never hired you to let them live, Tallyn." There was aslight pause before she finally revealed my name to the remaining members of 'The Leach'. The name was all it really took for them to realize how dire the situation was now. "T-Tallyn!" the leader exclaimed. Yes, my name. That stutter was always promising. Now that he was more aware of his situation, this was no longer fun. The shock factor was now all used up, and I never even got to show off my favourite toys. His female aid started getting a good look at me. That name was all she needed to start connecting the dots. "The mercenary in hoods. Dagger weilder, stealth based player." then the sweet moment when her eyes widened beyond her skulls parameters. "I've seen him before. He's with the clearers!" Now the leader and the remaining orange cursor were made fully aware. "What! A clearer!" Such a big misconception. Fight in a few boss battles, and suddenly everyone thinks you're a clearer. "Technically no. I'm just a hired blade after all." I flicked my wrist and started opening up some stuff from my menu, pretending like this was no big deal anymore. "Listen, let's just wrap this up; I have no more throwing picks left, and there are three of you left. I'll give you two options;" I opened up a duel request, directed to a Mr. . . Vladimire, ok, I gues he was the leader. Weird name. I held up my index finger. "One is you take the crystal and go to prison, to save us the trouble." I then held up my middle finger as well. "Or two, I'll take on your leader in a duel and I won't touch you two." I lowered my hand to point at Vladimire's two aides standing either side of him. "How does that sound?" They took the hint pretty quickly, and they already made the choice before listening to their so called leader. the forest swallowed them up and soon it was just us three left. "Come back!" Vladimire screamed. But no one answered but the wind and the crackling flames. "Cowards! Traitors!" he said more insults, but his voice was not heard. He turned towards me, bloodshot and broken from his calm demeanor. Perfect. "I don't need them. I can beat you." He declared confidently, or insanely at this point, before hitting accept on the duel request. The duel request was a system that allowed only two players to fight each other. Effectively, they became immortal objects to everyone else, and likewise everyone else was immortal to them. There were three modes of duels; First Strike, Half Loss, and Full Loss. I had no control of the mode since it was my opponents choice to pick the mode. Knowing how over the edge Vladimire was now, he flicked his hand straight to Full Loss. He intended to PK me. 60 seconds began to tick down. He pulled from his inventory a sword decorated in red and yellow sharp edges all over the scabbard. The blade was the length of his arm, straight and had a leather strap around the hilt, in which he forcefully tied his own hand to the sword to stop him from being disarmed. 50 seconds. That look in his eyes was not dying down, he flickered like his brain was switching off half a second for every second that passed. 40 seconds. I drew my dagger. I recently acquired it over my old one. Anything was better than the <> players who chose the skill to wield it were given. I never changed it until now because I was use to using it. 30 seconds. Only after a run in with a bad mob that I managed to acquire something that just suited me. A <>, it had better durability, and sharpness, but everything else stayed the same, which was good enough for me. 20 seconds. I analyzed him, looking over at his body composition. I needed to end this, quickly. He was too open, his mind wasn't in the fight, like he never had a fair fight in his life. His one hand on his sword meant a knock would leave him with no guard. That was my opportunity. 10, 9, 8 . . . No turning back now. This decision needs to be precise. 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . 0! "Aaaarghhhhh!" a rage of emotion escaped his mouth as he came at me. I leapt forward, keeping low head first. He kept his sword close, ready to lunge in, that was the reaction point I needed. We came close to contact, and he did what I predicted, throwing his right arm forward to thrust at me, but I rolled off into his body, shoulder barging him as we collided. I saw his arm just hanging their, and his face was white. I held the dagger and it glowed blood red. And with a strong upwards motion, I swung at him. The sound of the slash stung the air and the breaths synched as everything went silent for a brief moment. I exhaled, the duel was done. The sound of shattering polygons filled the air. His sword hit the ground and laid there untouched in the leaves and grass. The fire continued to shimmer and flicker. Two shadows had danced, but now one stood, and the other had fallen. " . . Ah? Arhhh! Aaaarghhhhh!" The bleeding status started taking affect on Vladimire. The loss of his right hand suddenly hit him like a wall as he dropped to his knees. It wasn't the pain he was feeling. Cuts in this world were like stings that irritated but were no real cause of pain. The psychological damage done to his brain processing the loss of his hand had to hurt though. "You really should work on your form" I commentated. he didn't hear me though, the shock that was running through to his brain was waiting too hard to process this information of what had occurred within less then a quarter of an hour ago. I squatted down to his side as he clung on to his empty hand, shaking and teary. I sighed. "Look, just forfeit; without that right hand, you can't open the menu so just give up." He nodded shockingly and I guided his left hand to the surrender option. The duel was mine, and I picked up Vladimire from the ground, broken from who he once was. I looked up as the ruffle of shrubbery reproached us. The two accomplices returned to the opening, with Argo and her blade walking them from behind. "You got them?" I asked as she nodded in response. "They didn't even have weapons worth beating them with" she replied. I should probably explain that while I was willing to let them go, I doubted that Argo would get her full reward if there were still one or two members still roaming around. Knowing her luck, if she never caught them, she would be on the revenge list. I exhaled with true relief now. I no longer had to act tough or witty. I sank back down into my normal demeanor, and walked Vladimire to his former accomplices. "Right bring them here" I signaled to Argo as she held the other two at blade point. I reached back down and picked up the teleport crystal from the ground. "<>." Aincrad 1st Floor, March 26th, 2023, 21:06 "How much was the bounty?" I asked. It had taken a lot of proceedings, people being called to witness the capture and the price discussed, etc. I wasn't there though. Not in the prison. I wasn't interested in that reward. Argo had to clear everything up and explain just who these people were and basically claim why she was entitled to the bounty. By the time she walked out, she was happier than a cat with a ball of string. I asked her the price she got in the end. But she playfully teased me with the answer. "I'm not saying" I snickered a little, but I laid off the small interrogation and cut straight to the point. "I told you, you're only paying me in information. I don't give a damn about the Cor this time." She sighed a little, I probably killed her fun with this game. "How does 2,000 Cor sound then?" I crossed my arms as we started walking. "Cheap personally." I wasn't lying. Still that was pretty high reward this early in the game. But I've managed to get more with jobs searching upper floors, plus whatever I came across was mine. "Rounding up an entire orange guild without killing a single one of them. That's a chump's price. But then again, you got what you wanted. Now back to my payment." She immediately darted straight to the one thing she was always sensitive about. "No, I'm not telling you about where I got my whiskers from. That information is classified." She got them during the beta and never could wash them off. When the official launch opened up, her avatar still had them on her. Since they were irremovable, it became part of her identity and a well kept secret, till recently. I rolled my eyes and put my arms back down to my sides as we continued walking into the central plaza. the site where it all began. "Everyone knows. The Martial Arts Quest on the 2nd Floor. Since Kirito cleared it, everyone's known." She gritted her teeth. If you know Kirito, you'd understand. 'The big bad <>' was the villain, after Kayaba Akihiko of course. Though he was actually one of the nicest guys you'd meet, he was very well known to easily provoke people. "I am going to kill Kii-Bou one of these days." Kii-Bou, that was her nickname for him. She compared him to a child sometimes, acting all care free and was exceptionally good at game. It suited him from her perspective. I snapped my fingers in front of her face. "My information." I shouldn't have been runde, but I nearly got killed by a basilisk a few days ago trying to get its venom for this capture to work with two people, so I think I was entitled to be a little impatient. "I know you're a broker of your word. So I want what I accepted the job for." She gave me a glare for a short while before finally giving in. Shutting her eyes as she sighed. "Fine, shoot." "I'm trying to find a player. His username is Alshain. I think you know who I am talking about?" That name pricked up her ears. She knew most of the players in the game, but she knew every beta tester, so it was unlikely she had knew nothing about him. "Yeah, he was from the beta test." The account was, not the player using it though. My account, before the official launch. She looked at me with curiosity. Since I made a new account, no one from the beta has been able to recognize me, which worked for its own benefits. "Why?" That as a long why. I opened up my menu and flicked to my friends list. I say list, but it was pretty bare. Apart from a few shop owners, like Agil or Devas, and two major clients that liked to hire me a couple of times for scouting upper floors, Lind of the <> (DDB) and Heathcliff of the <> (KOB). safe to say it wasn't hard to find his name. "He sent me a friend request shortly before everyone figured out we couldn't log out. I still have him here, but the map is bugged and it doesn't know where he is." Unlike looking for someone else, for some reason his name was here, but the map didn't know where he was. Even with everyone on the 1st floor, I couldn't find him. "Why all this care for a player?" "Just tell me you know where he is." I shouldn't have snapped, but I did my part, and now I wanted what I asked for. I needed it. I got my answer, but not the answer I wanted to hear. ". . . I'm sorry, but I don't. I know the movements of most players, and I have kept tabs on all the beta testers, but I don't know where Alshain is. I haven't seen him since the launch." I feared as much, I knew she wasn't lying to me. Argo was a rat, but she wasn't one to make up a story. I closed up my menu, and tucked my head under my hood. Walking away in defeat. "I see. Well then. See you around." I gave a meaningless wave to say bye, but I might as well have not bothered, it was pathetic to see. "Wait!" I didn't, but I listened. "I know his friends are in this game. Denebola, Merak, and Kekwan. You could find one of them and ask." I sighed and just continued walking. "I can't." "Why not?" I didn't answer. "Why not?" I just kept on walking. "Why not?" Until I was out of range and her question. It was quiet before I would answer her question. Because they're dead. And so could my brother. Category:Chapter Category:AdamantiumBladez